Jaws 2

Synopsis

The small island resort town of Amity is trying to bounce back from the financial troubles that suffered after becoming known as the site of shark attacks four years earlier. Mayor Larry Vaughn is welcoming developer Len Peterson and his new resort to Amity. Two scuba divers are exploring the area where the Orca sank after police chief Martin Brody killed a huge shark four years ago. A shark shows up and devoured the two divers, but not before one of the divers takes a close-up picture of the shark's eye, and sometime later, while a mother is driving a boat that's pulling her water-skiing teenage daughter, the shark devours the daughter and causes the mother to accidentally blow up the boat, then a killer whale is found on the shore with a huge bites on it. After Brody sees this, he knows there's another huge great white shark in Amity's waters, but Vaughn and Peterson explain these attacks away as non-shark accidents, because the thought of another shark in Amity's waters would drive...

The small island resort town of Amity is trying to bounce back from the financial troubles that suffered after becoming known as the site of shark attacks four years earlier. Mayor Larry Vaughn is welcoming developer Len Peterson and his new resort to Amity. Two scuba divers are exploring the area where the Orca sank after police chief Martin Brody killed a huge shark four years ago. A shark shows up and devoured the two divers, but not before one of the divers takes a close-up picture of the shark's eye, and sometime later, while a mother is driving a boat that's pulling her water-skiing teenage daughter, the shark devours the daughter and causes the mother to accidentally blow up the boat, then a killer whale is found on the shore with a huge bites on it. After Brody sees this, he knows there's another huge great white shark in Amity's waters, but Vaughn and Peterson explain these attacks away as non-shark accidents, because the thought of another shark in Amity's waters would drive...

Tech specs

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by Dan Grant 9 / 10

Nothing will ever compare to JAWS, but this is a great sequel

It's strange, I wonder how this film would have been received if it was
directed by Spielberg instead of an unknown. Because this film is about
as intense as they come. Granted, it lacks in the personal
relationships and that is what made Jaws such the classic that it is.
We all know that there is no way a sequel to Jaws could ever live up to
what we experienced with Jaws, but this film is about as scary as they
come.

Here, I must admit that the characters take a back seat to the shark.
But is that necessarily wrong? We have already seen the shark in the
first one so the mystery is gone, so now the only thing to do is make
sure the audience is scared out of their minds. And that I can assure
you is done with just as much perfection and attention to detail as the
original.

Take for example the opening scene where two divers are looking in the
Orca ( Quint's sunken ship from the first film ). They are playfully
taking pictures in front of the sunken ship. Then suddenly, a shot from
behind them, and the ominous music. You know they are going to be
eaten, but the scene is done with so much tension and perfect pacing
that you are scared all over again. And when the shark finally does
strike, we experience that primal emotion all over again.

The story is a fairly simple one but affective at the same time. Brody
( Roy Scheider ) is convinced there is another shark in the waters off
Amity and he is having a hard time convincing the town idiots that he
is right. But this time his two sons are a little older and they will
be involved in the final confrontation with the shark.

There is one other scene that I wanted to point out and that is a scene
where a picture is being developed. Brody is given a camera of the
missing divers from the beginning. The developer then tells him that
the pictures are about to be processed. As he stands in the red room,
waiting for the pictures to develop, he knows. He has that feeling.
Something is going to show up on the picture. And sure enough we see
it. The mouth. The black, doll-like lifeless eye appears in the corner
of the frame and Brody knows. He knows what it is. This is such a
powerful scene in the film and it is directed with such skill that it
looks like it could have been directed by Spielberg.

I think Jaws 2 is a great film and it is just as scary if not a little
scarier than the first, but what it lacks is that it's characters don't
have time to develop. We don't care as much about these ones as we did
about Hooper and Brody and Quint to some degree. But that is a small
detail, because the film does it's job and that is to scare us. Look
for one more scene where Tina and her boyfriend are boating by
themselves. It will stay with you for quite some time.

Maybe if this was Spielberg's film he would have done something
different. But the one thing he couldn't do is to make it more of a
frightening experience than it is. So that is a compliment to Szwarc, I
just wonder what happened to him. Because he has a vision and a style
that is very reminiscent to Spielberg's original. If you haven't seen
this by now, treat yourself to the first one and then watch this one
right after. Especially to all the young people that are on the IMDb,
Jaws is a classic piece of film making and I have said that it is the
best film ever made, and it is. But if you want to be scared, Jaws 2
will fulfill that need just as well as the first and better than any
film that has come out in the 90's.

And finally, has there ever been a better tagline in the history of
motion pictures? Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the
water...... Brilliant.

Reviewed by Kristine 7 / 10

As far as sequels go, this one deserves another bite!

When Jaws was released in 1975, I don't think audiences knew what hit
them. People were scared to death to go into the waters and Jaws became
the very first summer blockbuster. As set by example by later
Hollywood, it made money, WE NEED A SEQUEL. Well, Jaws 2 was an actual
book, but why not capitalize on it's success? Jaws 2 actually is a
decent movie, I don't know why this film is so picked on. I think
because it does have a bit of a slow start, but the ending is
fantastic. This was one of the first times we saw good looking
teenagers terrorized. Arguably yes, it's silly to think the shark would
come back for a second bite, but why not just let go and have a good
time with this one? I went back for seconds and still like this movie.

Once again, Mayor Vaughn doesn't share Brody's belief that the town has
another shark problem and warns him not to do something hasty. The
following day, while Brody is in an observation tower, he sees a large
shadow produced by a school of bluefish, which he mistakes for a shark.
In his haste, Brody orders everyone out of the water and fires his gun,
causing a panic. The town council fire Brody for the beach incident,
with Mayor Vaughn being the only one to vote against dismissal. The
next morning, Mike sneaks out and goes sailing with his friends, but
has to take his young brother Sean along to stop him telling his
parents about Mike's trip. But as they sail on the waters, the shark
decides it's time for some afternoon lunch and terrorizes the teens.
Martin realizes with his sons missing, they may be in trouble and goes
to save them and their friends.

Does the movie have it's flaws; yes. The acting is alright and the plot
is a bit silly. The beginning is a bit slow and the story isn't as
interesting as the first film with intelligent adults as clearly this
was made more for the scare and bringing back old characters for the
fans. Not to mention that the boat scene was a bit sloppy where the
dumb woman is grabbing a bottle of gasoline to light the shark on fire
I'm assuming but looses her balance and dumps it on herself and
proceeds to shoot a flare gun! Yeah, she had it coming. There is a
really bad mistake caught on film when the shark reaches in to bite
Michael, Jaws scraps it's mouth on the boat and the mouth bends as if
it was plastic, lol. But one of the things I like about the film is
that it still does give a good scare with the teenagers. Especially
when Marge has to save Shawn out of the water and she can't get back up
on the boat and keeps slipping, as you see Jaws going after her and it
just breaks your heart when Shawn witnesses her death. Also I have a
guilty pleasure for the actor Keith Gordon(Christine, All that Jazz,
and Back to School), this was one of his first films and he does a very
good job. The cast seemed to really click and did a good job working
together. Plus you have to love how "marine" Martin Brody gets when he
faces down Jaws for his last time and goes for that money shot. Jaws 2
is definitely flawed, but honestly a fun film that too many people
judge harshly. I think it's just a fun popcorn flick that you need to
let go and just have a good time when sequels had good intentions.

7/10

Reviewed by ccthemovieman-1 6 / 10

Slow To Get Started, But Then Has Some Bite

No, this wasn't as good as the original, but it wasn't bad, either. In
fairness, the audiences knew what to expect in this one and had already
been shocked by the killer Great White Shark. Thus, it was no way
audiences were going to react to the sequel as they did the first Jaws
movie.

It didn't have Steven Spielberg directing, but it did have the same
locale with same principal characters on "Amity:" mainly Police Chief
Martin Brody (Roy Scheider), his wife Ellen (Lorraine Gary) and Mayor
Larry Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) so one didn't feel as if this was a
completely new film. There was continuity to it, and we have the same
problem (a big shark eating people). The main difference is that it is
just a few years after the first horrifying incidents.

This story mainly involves Chief Brody's teenage kids and their
friends. Overall, the film moves a little slowly the first hour, but
picks up dramatically in the second half. In fact, it turns out quite
intense, just like the first film. The main mistake the filmmakers made
- which they wouldn't do today, was that it was too slow for too long.
That, and the fact that the area residents apparently had a short
memory; unrealistically short.

Anyway, the shark looks more realistic.....and if you can hang in
there, you'll be rewarded with some good escapist entertainment in the
second hour.